First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 18.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,854 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $24,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on DE shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Deere & Company from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.98.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $640.78 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $579.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The stock has a market cap of $172.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 10.09%.The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.28 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.